Originally from World Arbitration And Mediation Review (WAMR)

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THE "THIRD OPTION": INTERNATIONAL

COMMERCIAL MEDIATION
by Antonin I. Pribetic∗

I. INTRODUCTION
Mediation in the international context is a relatively recent phenomenon.
As an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism, third-party neutral
mediation is firmly entrenched in the legal ethos and procedural rules of
most common law jurisdictions—such as the United Kingdom, the United
States, and Canada.1 However, in the rest of the world, including many
European, Latin American, and Asian nations with civil law traditions,
mediation remains an elusive concept. Some commentators suggest this
may be due in part to differences in systemic (i.e., adversarial vs.
inquisitorial)2 and cultural (i.e., mediation vs. conciliation) orientations,3 as